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Each national team in Europe is allowed a naturalized player and Lekic saw McCalebb as a key addition to a team that had been steadily improving for six years. "Usually you need to take a few months to check the personality, to check the qualities and character ... with Bo we were without worries," he said. "A few times we went out for coffee and colas and we were soon laughing at jokes; he was Macedonian after two weeks already," added Lekic. CNN.com

Bo McCalebb, Macedonia 

McCalebb spends a month each year training with the Macedonian national squad and admits to only knowing "the bad stuff" when it comes to speaking the language. It was a surprise to get a call from Lekic, he admits, but unconcerned by any culture shock (or loss of U.S. citizenship) he also saw the chance to represent Macedonia as a way to boost his own career. "I talked to a lot of older players and they said you can play longer with a (European) passport; I didn't even think about it, I just said yes." CNN.com

Bo McCalebb, Macedonia 

Bo McCalebb on the NBA: " I don't like it, I want to keep growing in Europe." El Pais

Bo McCalebb, Macedonia 

On Friday, McCalebb, 26, will lead Macedonia into a David vs. Goliath matchup against Spain, the defending European champion, which is led by Pau and Marc Gasol. But how did a guy from New Orleans end up starring in what could be the sequel to “Hoosiers” in an obscure former Yugoslav republic? “I was playing in Serbia last year and I got a call from the Macedonians — they asked me to play for them,” explained McCalebb, who grew up in the Algiers section of New Orleans and went on to play at the University of New Orleans. He bounced around professional leagues in Turkey and Serbia before signing a contract with an Italian club, Montepaschi Siena, last summer. “I didn’t ask any questions about the place,” he said. “I just said, ‘Yes,’ and I got a plane for Skopje the next day.” New York Times

Bo McCalebb, Macedonia 

Three days later, Bo McCalebb had morphed into Borche McCalebbovski, a newly minted citizen of a country he was previously only vaguely aware of. “Every team has the right to one naturalized player,” explained Dejan Lekic, the secretary general of Macedonia’s basketball federation. “He came, he liked our country, he liked us and everyone liked him. He is Macedonian in full now.” New York Times

Bo McCalebb, Macedonia 

Lekic said some European countries paid non-Europeans large sums to play for their teams, but added that Macedonia could not afford to pay McCalebb. “Our annual budget for our entire federation is only 350,000 euros, which is like pocket change for some of the stars playing in this tournament,” Lekic said. New York Times

Bo McCalebb, Macedonia 

Lekic said that the team’s triumphs and McCalebb’s popularity had crossed ethnic and religious lines — no small feat in a country that experienced a brief but violent conflict between ethnic Albanian nationalists and the central government in 2001. “When we play, the entire country stops what they are doing,” he said. “Even our Albanian population is rooting for us, which is important for unifying us a country.” New York Times

Bo McCalebb, Macedonia